50 Hilarious And Brilliant Realizations People Had In The Shower, As Shared By This Online Community (New Pics)
InterviewYou’re in the shower. The sound of running water comforts you. You’re used to the routine of soaping up and rinsing off, so you let your mind wander. Suddenly, this Aha! moment flashes right through your head, leaving you a little baffled and a whole lot surprised.
There's an entire subreddit dedicated to Shower Thoughts and is all about "sharing those miniature epiphanies you have that highlight the oddities within the familiar." Whether we’re talking about midlife crises, gummy worms or extra-terrestrial species, this powerhouse with more than 23.6m members is a collection of truly impressive insights.
We have taken some of their best posts that might leave you pondering all day long, so make sure to check them out below. And if you’re in the mood for some more, take a look at our earlier posts right here, here and here.
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Since its creation in 2011, the subreddit has been growing into one of the most popular pages on the whole platform. According to the moderators, "'Showerthought' is a loose term that applies to the types of thoughts you might have while carrying out a routine task like showering, driving, or daydreaming."
These flashes of genius are universally relatable and can let you in on the most amusing things within the mundane. Usually, when you think of such unexpected insights, you find yourself in certain circumstances: a familiar environment with no people to interrupt you and no devices to bother you.
As your body and mind relax, the overwhelming number of thoughts that are racing through your head start to slowly fade away. This gives an opportunity for brilliant ideas to appear as if by magic.
Bored Panda reached out to Nancy K. Napier, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor at Boise State University (USA) and author of Unfolding Curiosity who has published widely on creativity and innovation. She was kind enough to have a little chat with us about the realizations we get while taking a shower.
When asked about the power of a shower and why is it considered to be a perfect place for the eureka effect, the professor told us that the reason behind it is simply because it’s an enclosed space, with warm comforting water, where you do something you don't have to think about.
"As you wash yourself for those three or five or ten minutes, you can let your mind wander and that's often when an idea will hit. Also, during these times when we're with our families in shutdowns, it might be one of the few chances to be alone with your thoughts," she explained.
That's what I think of the Mars station idea. If people can't follow basic rules here, how can we expect them to follow the very high number of rules living there would entail? One person could so easily sabotage the air or oxygen controls.
According to Napier, it can be hard to allow your thoughts to drift because we usually have some sort of information—music, podcasts, radio—coming into our minds most of the day. "To have the experience of a wandering mind, we need to intentionally turn OFF the extra information and think about nothing."
However, the shower is not the only place where brilliant ideas can come to us. There are more ways humans can let their minds go free: "I read recently that taking a walk is another great place for ideas, but the key is to simply walk. Leave the radio and podcasts at home."
"Then, while walking, look in three places and ideas will come: look above eye level (at buildings, trees), look straight ahead and look on the ground," Napier told us. She also mentioned that she tried it last week and came away with two new creative thoughts.
My band played at numerous football games in the freezing cold and then our concert was canceled three days before it was supposed to happen. Since when did sports have higher value than the fine arts.
Actually, the planetary impact that resulted in the creation of the Moon reduced the Earth (1.0) to a sterile ball of magma, which eventually became our Earth (2.0.) We have no idea what, if any life there was on 1.0, but it was completely exterminated even to the end of viruses and bacteria, if there were such things.
Hearing other people’s shower realizations attracts a lot of attention: "Many of us are looking for ways to do things differently to get better, which is the ultimate goal of creativity." The professor said that we can always gain something from another person's idea, and the most wonderful part of it is "that we can always generate new ones."
Because you can't wear sweatpants and start boredom eating at someone else's house
"Lots of people have noted that we no longer allow ourselves to become bored. Laying on grass and watching the clouds go by seems to be less common and yet it's another simple way to generate ideas," Napier mentioned.
Have you ever notices that the shoppers at Costco are Costco sized?
I know we hear all of the stories of wasted money and broke lottery winners, but its a little bit of observation bias as well. The people who win the lottery and handle the money well, whether they were well off before or not, aren't as interesting so do not get published. The best winners you never hear about and simply quietly live a better life for them and their family.
There are actual studies done on lottery winners, however, measuring outcomes, happiness reporting, mental wellness, etc. The idea that a lot of multi-million winners end up spending it all isn't just anecdotal.
Load More Replies...There was a family on a reserve here who won a large jackpot and have been donating much of it to improve their community.
There was a study a few years back that looked into what happens to people who win the "jackpot". They found that people from USA mostly burned through the money, like "I need two jet planes, one for shopping and one for travelling", while Scandinavians were more like "maybe we can hire a contractor to redo the kitchen instead of doing it ourselves?". Could probably be a life story in there somewhere
I wonder how much of that id the culture around spending (with influences from capitalism causing a "Keeping up with the Joneses" attitude as opposed to a slightly more socialist-leaning scandinavian culture) and how much of it is the increasing wealth disparity causing an attitude of desperation as soon as money is available ie "I've never been able to keep up with my expenses so I need to buy everything NOW before the money runs out". I know I'd struggle with not filling my fridge and cupboard to bursting if I won because my partner and I are food insecure. It's also easy to see how that could translate even into things like planes - because suddenly you CAN afford this expensive thing you want, but for how long? Though I think I'd luck out in just... not having expensive tastes. Jets, yachts, eh... but being able to buy a new bookcase and an armful of books to fill the first shelf? Ooh baby that's luxury.
Load More Replies...People who would be best at being a national leader are usually not interested in being a national leader.
Money takes maintenance. It is a skill that has to be learned. My father never learned it, but I have (in part from watching him do things like buy a time-share and take money out of an IRA without checking with an accountant).
Well, it doesn't take *much* maintenance. Maintaining wealth is 99% about just keeping your damn hands off of it. The problems start when you let yourself feel rich and allow yourself to spend it all.
Load More Replies...Or people that’s already well off in the first place and buy one and win
Here's a thought... what if, we have a lottery for people with less income or poor to buy from? I know it sounds stupid but... I'm thinking of ways it might work :)
There's a research field that focuses on people obtaining sudden wealth (lottery, lawsuit, inheritance, etc). There's a retired professor in my town that has been working anonymously with them for close to 35 years now. She has several books and articles. She says the hardest thing for them is everyone, including yourself, expect you to change and you don't. If you had problems handling money, jealousy, laziness, obsessed with work, shyness, etc you still will the day after you won X. Except now you have 500 people who think you owe them Y. About 25 years ago she set up an international support group program like AA to help people cope. Its helpful to talk to someone who has also lost a loved one to drugs they bought with money you gave them. Not everyone will sympathize with the boredom of not working now and never having time in the past to get hobbies. She retired saying she had to help them instead of remaining objective.
Or at least spend anything that closely resembles a significant amount on it. The lottery is entertainment only.
Or, like in some countries, people get financial coaches to help make the transition to another lifestyle.
When u get sick - u go to a dr. When your car is beyond your fixing capabilities - take it to a mechanic. When you have to get into a legal proceeding - hire a lawyer. Why won't those who get windfall $$$ go to a financial planner?
We all know about doctors, mechanics, and lawyers ...
Load More Replies...Ireland's one is capped at the moment at 19 mill because nobody has won since June. I say things like "If I won the lotto..." then realise I can't remember the last time I bought a ticket. If it was me I know the first thing I'd do would be buy my perfect home. After that I've no idea.
There’s a saying that creativity is like a muscle. If you want to become more innovative, you have to train it right. And as we found out, one way of achieving this goal is by simply doing… nothing. Nancy K. Napier leaves us with one encouraging thought for the next year: "Here's to setting aside 30 minutes a week to let yourself be bored in 2022!"
I've read that time goes faster when you're older because we no longer experience as many new things as when we're younger. When you're young you still do new things all the time, but when you're in your twenties or thirties you start to get a work/life routine that's mostly the same
Not in the UK: Even our national parks are very human landscapes, pocked with abandoned mines and farms. Not to mention the Norfolk broads, a landscape entirely created by peat extraction.
This always confused me. When the Jets came back to Winnipeg, I don't think any of the players were from Winnipeg, or Canadian at all. All fans are doing is rooting of the idea of the team being in the city.
Studies have shown that people who are chronically homeless do develop PSTD symptoms from not having regular, safe, full nights of sleep.
For me it's more like putting them on silent, I still get notifications but not out loud. Fibromyalgia is a complete d**k - 9.30am and I'm maxed out on dihydrocodeine already - gonna be a long day
What I find even more amazing is that even though Chris Pratt has his headphones on, we can still hear the song playing!
I've had 18 years of schooling, from preschool through a bachelor's degree. I've never once had a class that taught me where my organs are or very basic anatomy. I had a minor pain today and realized I had no idea what was there in my body. It seems like a very important part of education that was somehow missed.
Some people let them blink for minutes after they've already turned. The only thing that'd stop the blinking is because they turned the wheel later.
This makes me believe that the author thinks the websites are actually trying to filter out people. Requiring 18+ is a great form of enticement to 14 year old's.
That's cuz ears mouths and brains don't communicate well with each other, kinda like cia, fbi, and nsa
I used to do this math while biking home after my shift working at a bar. I was paid $2/hr plus tips. Some nights, the bar was really slow, and I'd make less than $15 for a full shift. Sometimes I'd see pennies, nickels, or dimes while cycling and calculate if it would be worth it for me to stop, turn around, get off my bike, and pick it up. Some nights, yes. Other nights, no. If I had a good shift, I'd gamble if the coin would still be there the next day and pick it up then. (P.S. Serving minimum wage sucks. If you live somewhere where tipped employees can be paid less than minimum wage, always tip. Tipping is an awful practice, but if you choose to be cheap about it, you're only hurting the worker.)
Shhhhh -- you just KNOW it drives some people insane that they can't monetize every single thing we do, online or otherwise.
"since 30% of road accidents are caused by alcoholics, 70% are caused by water drinkers so they are the danger." Prof. Choron
What if there is some kind of secret owl relay service no-one but the owls know about?
Most of your food has seen more of the world than you have. It sounds delusional, but I'm often jealous of my produce..
It's they don't enjoy these posts at all but just keep coming back.
Load More Replies...I'd like to add to shower thoughts, if I may. It may or may not be original, but I giggled: Jock straps are basically ball bras.
It's they don't enjoy these posts at all but just keep coming back.
Load More Replies...I'd like to add to shower thoughts, if I may. It may or may not be original, but I giggled: Jock straps are basically ball bras.